Earth Venture Capital is proud to announce our investment in Supercritical Solutions, a pioneering green hydrogen technology company, as part of their £14M Series A round.
Co-led by Shell Ventures and Toyota Ventures, the round also includes participation from a global coalition of investors spanning four continents: Al Mada Ventures, Blackfinch Ventures, Kibo Invest, Niterra / Global Brain Corporation, TOP Ventures (Thai Oil), Alumni Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital and Anglo American Platinum. This diverse group brings unparalleled expertise and resources to support Supercritical’s mission to solve the mass adoption challenges of green hydrogen.
Where Will The Fund Go?
The capital infusion will accelerate the development of Supercritical’s proprietary ultra-efficient, supercritical electrolyser—a game-changing technology poised to redefine the economics and practicality of green hydrogen production.
Key focus areas include enhancing the technology, scaling manufacturing capacity, and expanding into high-demand markets such as ammonia production, refineries, and methanol synthesis. With the green hydrogen market projected to grow 30-fold to $30.6 billion by 2030 from $1.1 billion in 2023, Supercritical is well-positioned to lead this transformation.
What Makes Their Solution Super-Critical?
Supercritical Solutions has developed the world’s first high-pressure, ultra-efficient electrolyser, operating at 99% Higher Heating Value (HHV) efficiency within the stack. Unlike traditional electrolysers that produce hydrogen at low pressures (1-30 bar) and rely on energy-intensive compressors, Supercritical’s technology delivers hydrogen at 220 bar directly—eliminating the need for external compression.
To understand this process clearer, imagine you’re packing candy into a jar to send to a friend. Normally, you’d have a big pile of loose candy—like fluffy cotton candy—that takes up tons of space. To fit it into a small jar, you’d need to squish it down with your hands or a tool, pressing it tight so it’s compact and ready to ship. That squishing takes effort, and in the real world of hydrogen, it’s done with a power-hungry machine called a compressor, which uses energy to squeeze loose hydrogen gas into a smaller, high-pressure form for storage or transport.
Now, instead of starting with loose candy and squishing it later, Supercritical Solutions created candy that was already packed tight from the start—like hard candies or those little sugar cubes. In their machine, they put water under pressure first, then split it into hydrogen and oxygen using a special gadget (their “membraneless” electrolyser). Because the water’s already squeezed, the hydrogen comes out tiny and dense—like those sugar cubes—at 220 bar, ready to go without any extra squishing.
This compressor-free approach and ridiculously high efficiencies in water splitting slashes the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH), targeting an ambitious £1/kgH2 this decade. For industries requiring high-pressure hydrogen—such as ammonia production (200 bar), refineries (50-200 bar), and methanol synthesis (50-150 bar)—Supercritical’s solution integrates seamlessly, reducing energy use, emissions, and operational complexity.
Why We Invest: Supercharging High-Pressure Green Hydrogen
We’re thrilled to partner with Supercritical Solutions, a company tackling the toughest challenges in green hydrogen head-on with a highly differentiated approach. Their breakthrough electrolyser not only drives down costs but also aligns perfectly with the needs of industries critical to global decarbonization. With this investment, we’re accelerating a future where green hydrogen is both accessible and affordable. - Duc Pham, Principal at Earth Venture Capital.
Outside of the existing industries that already use hydrogen at pressure, high-pressure hydrogen addresses two critical barriers to mass adoption in other sectors: storage and transport. By increasing hydrogen’s density, it enables compact storage for space-constrained applications like vehicle fuel tanks and industrial facilities. It also enhances transport efficiency, reducing logistics costs, and aligns with industrial processes that demand pressurized hydrogen.
Most notably, by bypassing the energy-intensive and polluting compression step—responsible for up to 15% of energy use in traditional hydrogen production—Supercritical shrinks the environmental footprint of hydrogen systems.
Today, over 90% of global hydrogen demand (90 million tonnes annually) requires pressurized delivery, yet fossil fuel-based production emits 1 billion tonnes of CO2 yearly. Supercritical’s renewable-powered, compressor-free technology offers a decarbonized, cost-effective alternative, making it a linchpin for industries like fertilizers, refining, and chemicals striving for net zero.
Looking Ahead
The Series A round reflects confidence in Supercritical’s vision and its leadership team: CEO Matt Bird, with decades of commercial scaling experience; CTO Mike Russ, the expert in electrochemical systems and supercritical reactors; and CPO Luke Tan, a veteran in hydrogen commercialization. Strategic partnerships with Shell, Scottish Power, and Suntory Global Spirits—alongside projects like WhiskHy (green distillation) and GreeNH3 (green ammonia)—underscore the technology’s real-world impact.
Supercritical Solutions is already delivering results. In collaboration with Scottish Power and Proton Ventures, they confirmed that their technology could cut green ammonia production costs by 21%. Meanwhile, the WhiskHy project with Beam Suntory is reviving the century-old, direct-fired practice in Scotch whisky distillation. Moreover, they’re paving the way for zero emission shipping with their green methanol project which sees them partner with project developer HAMR Energy in Australia. With this Series A funding, Supercritical is poised to scale these innovations globally, catalyzing the shift from grey to green hydrogen and driving the world closer to net zero.
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